


Nice to Meet You Again

by darlingamidala



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 23:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingamidala/pseuds/darlingamidala
Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, three people met, and fell into a love so deep that it bound their very souls together for all eternity.Padmé, Anakin, and Obi-wan reunite in a new life once again.





	Nice to Meet You Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FromDreamstoEmpires](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FromDreamstoEmpires/gifts).



Obi-wan Kenobi had never really believed in soulmates, or in reincarnation. 

It was the stuff of fairy tales and mythology, a trope that had been pulled from by romance writers until it had become incredibly cliché. Even the people who claimed that those concepts were real had suggested that there had been lifetimes where they hadn’t met their soulmate, hadn’t remembered their previous lives. It seemed to him that even on the off chance the whole thing was true, the chances of meeting his soulmate were approximately 7 billion to one, at best. The odds were slim enough to be virtually null. 

And yet, there he was, standing with his groceries, in the middle of the crosswalk like a damned fool, because he’d happened to glance up and meet the eyes of a young woman waiting to cross the other way, and been suddenly overwhelmed with the sensation that he had once known her intimately. She was a perfect stranger, and yet...

He had woken up next to this woman a thousand times. He had hugged her and held her and died for her.

She broke eye contact and shot a concerned look in the direction of the oncoming traffic. He was still standing in the goddamned crosswalk, he realized with a start, and rushed to the sidewalk, sparing an apologetic wave at the drivers he was blocking. 

He dropped his bags to the floor as he reached her, not caring for any damage it might cause to the groceries. And then she was in his arms, his soulmate, and he returned the hug, knowing, somehow, through lifetimes of muscle memory, just how to hold her. 

She was shorter than he was, just able to tuck her head beneath his chin as she held tightly to him.

“ _Soulmate..._ ” she exhaled in a fervent whisper, her breath warm against his neck. 

“Hello,” he breathed, not sure what else he could say. His mind was reeling with bits and pieces of lives past lived, an incomplete patchwork, and all he could glean from it all was her. 

She pulled away slightly, a soft laugh escaping her at his inane greeting. “Hi there.” She looked up at him with a gentle smile, her hands coming to rest on his forearms. Obi-wan was suddenly self conscious of his hands still on her waist. He had just met her, this wasn’t like him. But she was, apparently, his soulmate.

He pulled his hands away. “It’s nice to—“ Nice to what? Meet her? See her again? He wasn’t often at a loss of words, and it made him uncomfortable to be so wholly out of his depth, but it seemed that he had spent enough lifetimes with this woman that she immediately understood what he was getting at. 

“You too,” she replied, not missing a beat. “My name is Padmé by the way.” 

Padmé. That sounded right, familiar. Beautiful. He could hear it whispered in a reverent voice that he didn’t think was his own, but didn’t belong to anyone he’d known in this life. 

“And your name is?” she prompted, after a moment of silence in which he had stared uselessly down at her.

“Ah, its Obi-wan. Obi-wan Kenobi.”

“Obi-wan,” she repeated. He found that he liked the way his name sounded falling from her lips. She startled suddenly, as if remembering something, and leaned down, reaching for a rather nice leather bag that he assumed belonged to her. Instead she picked up a box of granola bars that had fallen out of one of his shopping bags, and he too realized with a start that they were still at a busy intersection. He hastily bent to pick up his groceries, reaching out to grab an orange that had rolled away. 

“I’ve got it,” he assured her, and she left him to it, picking up her own bag. Now that they had gathered their things and regained awareness of their surroundings, the already strange situation only became more awkward. “Do you live around here?” he asked. That seemed like as good a place any to start.

“I commute for work,” Padmé explained. “I take it you do?” she asked, nodding towards his groceries. 

“A few blocks away, yes.” Part of him thought to invite her over, but even with his apparent soulmate, that felt like too much too fast. 

Padmé seemed to be equally unsure of how to move forward with it all. “I can leave work early tonight?” she suggested. “We could get dinner, or coffee, and talk.”

“How does coffee, tomorrow at 5, sound?”

“That sounds lovely. I’ll let you get home with your groceries, and I should get to work.” There was a brief pause, and then her hand was on his arm as she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Obi-wan. I can’t wait.”

“See you tomorrow,” he managed to get out. He watched her walk away, his mind automatically categorizing her determined gait as a familiar and recognizable feature. And then, in a daze, he continued his walk home from the store. 

******

Padmé tried to keep herself calm and collected as she walked away from Obi-wan. Her lips were pressed together in an attempt to smother the bright grin that threatened to break out on her face.

As soon as she felt she was a good distance away, she pulled out her phone. She was practically vibrating with nerves and excitement as she waited for the other end to pick up.

“ _Hey, love_ ,” Anakin answers. 

“Ani! Is now a good time?” she asks. 

“ _It’s always a good time to talk to you_ ,” he replies. Padmé rolls her eyes fondly.

“You’ll never guess who I just ran into on my way to work; I… I met our third.” Finally, the joyful and stunned laughter she had been holding back bubbled out of her. “I met our third!” 

“ _What?_ ” Anakin cried out, an incredulous grin evident in his voice. “ _You met him? Where, how, who— Tell me everything!_ ” Padmé could picture perfectly the captivated expression on his face. They had known almost from the beginning, once they met, that they had another soulmate, but neither of them could ever recall much about him. He had existed as a blank spot in their memories, a figure in the corners of their eyes that they could never make out, but they knew he was there. 

And now, at least to Padmé, he had a name, and a face, and a voice.

She told Anakin everything she knew about Obi-wan. Everything she had been able to glean about his current life from their brief meeting, everything she could remember about him. There wasn’t much clarity or detail to the memories yet, but he was there, and that was enough for now. 

******

Padmé spent much of the next day fretting over the fact that she and Obi-wan hadn’t actually decided on a meeting place. She left work 45 minutes early, walking the three blocks from city hall to the intersection where they had met. She hoped that Obi-wan would have the same idea about how to find her again. 

She was very relieved when she spotted him a few minutes later. He was dressed nicely, in a pair of dark jeans and a button up shirt with a tan cardigan over it, paired with a nice pair of dress shoes. The shirt brought out his eyes, and she vaguely recalled that she enjoyed dressing him in blues and greens for precisely that reason. She wondered if he remembered that too, if that was why he had worn it.

“Padmé!” he greeted warmly.

“Obi-wan, there you are!” She pulled him into a hug, managing to linger only slightly more than a casual embrace should. “I’m glad you found me, I wasn’t sure where we were supposed to meet.”

Obi-wan gave her a chagrined smile, a hint of pink darkening his cheeks slightly. “Yes, I realized later that we hadn’t agreed on a meeting place. Sorry about that.”

“It worked out in the end,” she assured him. 

They had a brief discussion to decide where they wanted to hold their little coffee date, and made their way to Obi-wan’s favorite café a few blocks away, walking arm in arm. 

They ordered their drinks and sat down at a table tucked away in the corner where they could at least have the illusion of some privacy. Obi-wan didn’t seem to know how to proceed, so Padmé took the lead in starting their conversation. She had been there before, she knew how strange it was to meet your soulmate for the first time. 

“So,” she began, “let’s start out simple. This can be just like any other date. We’ve known each other in past lives, but we don’t know each other here and now. Let’s just get to know each other.”

“Alright,” he agreed, a thoughtful look on his face as he brought one hand up to stroke his beard. It was such a familiar gesture that Padmé couldn’t help but smile. “You said you work around here?”

“At city hall. I’m the assistant city manager.”

“Of course you are,” Obi-wan laughed. “I should have guessed.”

Padmé laughed with him. “Honestly, I wonder how many years of political experience I’ve accumulated over the lifetimes. It seems like I get involved in politics every time I have the option.”

“Well, from what I can recall, you’re one of the good ones,” he replied fondly. 

They spent another two hours just talking about their lives-- their current ones, but when it came up, they talked about their pasts as well.

Obi-wan told her about his job as a research coordinator at the city’s university. He talked about how he’d moved to the United States for his masters degree, and how it was the first time he’d ever traveled abroad. Padmé told him about her work, and how she’d gotten her first job at city hall as an intern when she was in college. 

“So Obi-wan, how much-- How much do you remember, about our past lives together?” she asked, lowering her voice just slightly as she turned their conversation to the more personal topic of reincarnation. 

Obi-wan looked down at his half-empty coffee cup, fidgeting with it as he gathered his words. “A lot of my memories are fuzzy, but I certainly remember more than I expected to,” he began. “Certain details are so clear, and others are… elusive. It’s as if there’s a piece missing that I can’t quite puzzle together.”

“It will become clearer with time,” Padmé assured him. “And that missing piece… His name is Anakin. He’s our third. Our soulmate.”

“ _Our_ soulmate?” he questioned, one eyebrow raised. “Padmé, the likelihood--”

“I know,” she interrupted, remaining calm and cool in the face of Obi-wan’s doubt. “I know that triad relationships aren’t common, and I know that it’s nearly unheard of to have two soulmates. But Anakin and I knew there was a blank spot in our memories, and meeting you yesterday filled that blank in for me.” 

Obi-wan looked at her, dumbfounded, as she spoke. He had mentioned not even believing in soulmates before yesterday, and Padmé could only imagine the shock of finding out that he had not only one, but two of them. His gaze went far away has he processed it, presumably digging back through his memories to confirm.

A soft, incredulous laugh bubbled out of him after a moment. “Yes, I suppose he is the missing piece, isn’t he?” Obi-wan still looked uncertain, but he also looked happy. 

Padmé returned his faint smile with a shy grin. “Would you like to meet him?”

“Of course,” he replied, his smile brightening. 

Padmé grinned as she reached into her bag, digging around for her cell phone. “He lives about four hours away,” she explained, “but I’m sure he’ll want to come visit as soon as possible. For now I think the best I can do is a video chat.”

******

Anakin had only just walked in the door when Padmé finally called. He’d been antsy all day, knowing that her date with Obi-wan was happening. He would have given just about anything to be there as well, but work was incredibly hectic with a big robotics convention coming up that they needed to be prepared for. He couldn’t have taken a day off just to go on a date. Even if it was with his soulmates.

The phone only managed to ring about three times before he had answered it and been greeted with Padmé’s beautiful face appearing on the screen with a glowing smile. “How was your date?” he asked without preamble. 

“ _Still happening_ ,” she laughed. “ _This_ ,” she said, turning her phone to face the man across the table from her, “ _is Obi-wan._ ” 

“Um, hi,” Anakin greeted him, feeling a bit awkward and out of his depth. This wasn’t really how meeting one’s soulmate was supposed to go.

“ _Hello there,_ ” Obi-wan replied. Padmé hadn’t been kidding, Obi-wan was incredibly handsome, with a charming smile, and great hair. At least that was what Anakin thought he could tell from the tiny screen. 

Anakin introduced himself, and then Obi-wan did, and then they repeated much of the earlier portion of the date, talking about their lives and their jobs. Eventually it got closer to dinnertime, and Padmé still needed to drive home. He and Padmé exchanged phone numbers with Obi-wan, and Anakin said his final goodbyes before hanging up.

“Okay, drive safe babe, I love you. It was nice meeting you, Obi-wan.” 

He flopped down on the couch, tossing his phone on to the coffee table. That had been the strangest phone call of his life. He didn’t really know what he had _expected_ from meeting his soulmate over video chat, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that it hadn’t been the same world-shattering revelation that meeting Padmé had been. 

He liked Obi-wan well enough, but what he didn’t like was not being able to _remember_ him. Obi-wan was supposed to be his soulmate, and meeting him had more or less just felt like meeting any other person, only this person was on a date with Padmé. A part of him felt left out, knowing that Padmé and Obi-wan shared memories that still eluded him, but he knew that he and Padmé shared that same bond, and that soon, he and Obi-wan would too. 

In the meantime, he would just have to romance him the old fashioned way. Anakin had never been great at that, but whatever mistakes he made, he figured would be overshadowed by the lives they had lived together in the past.

******

The next several months were spent in constant contact between the three of them. Anakin and Obi-wan, though they couldn’t yet remember each other from previous lives, fell for each other pretty quickly, which Padmé was unsurprised by. They were perfect for each other, after all. 

Anakin still couldn’t get a free weekend to come see them, a fact that devastated him more and more as he and Obi-wan became closer. Being in a long-distance relationship with Padmé was difficult enough on its own, but now he was long distance with both of his soulmates, one of whom he hadn’t even properly met yet. And if he was being honest with himself, he was a little jealous of how quickly Padmé and Obi-wan had bonded, especially when they decided to move in together while Anakin was still stuck a four hour drive away from either of them. 

But finally, after months without seeing Padmé, months of knowing, but not knowing Obi-wan, Anakin got a handful of days off of work to visit them, two weeks after Padmé moved in. He was practically vibrating with excitement the entire way there. 

Padmé met him outside the apartment building, greeting him with a tight hug and a brilliant smile. Anakin laughed with delight as he wrapped her in his arms, spinning her around the way he’d been doing for as many lives as he could remember. She pulled him down for a long kiss after he set her back on her feet. Oh, he had missed her. 

“Lead the way,” he said, when they finally broke apart. “I want to meet Obi-wan.” 

She grinned at him, and lead him up to the apartment. “Wait right here,” she told him. He stood just inside the doorway, hardly sparing a glance at his surroundings as he craned his neck trying to spot Obi-wan. “He’s in the kitchen, I’ll go get him. Cover your eyes!” she added as an afterthought. Anakin just laughed and did as he was told.

“Anakin!” a familiar voice exclaimed, and Anakin was delighted to hear it ring clear and vibrant without being filtered through a telephone. He quickly pulled his hands off of his eyes, overcome with utter joy as he met Obi-wan’s eyes for the first time and remembered everything they’d been through together, in their other lives. 

They both rushed forward into an enthusiastic embrace, their laughter bordering on hysteria in their sheer happiness. Anakin lifted Obi-wan, twirling him the way he did Padmé, making the other man scream with joy and hold him tighter. Distantly, they could hear Padmé laughing with them, and they both reached out to her at the same time, pulling her into their embrace. 

They were finally together again, and it was _perfect_. 

******

Within another year, Anakin had moved in with them too. He visited the apartment whenever he could in the meantime, but they quickly realized they would need a larger space if all three of them were going to live there full time. They found a nice house on the edge of the city, someplace where they would be able to raise children when they decided they were ready. 

They settled into a routine. It was peaceful and happy, and they all appreciated it greatly. These were the lifetimes they looked forward to. No wars to be dragged into, no social issues to keep them apart. They could just be together. 

One night, Padmé made hot cocoa, and the three of them spent the evening curled up together on the bench on their back patio, looking up at the stars. They were wrapped up in blankets and sweaters, leaning against each other in silent companionship. 

Anakin snuggled a bit closer to Padmé never taking his eyes off the sky. If he closed his eyes, he could still remember the night sky of Tatooine, with its three moons, and the starlight untainted by city light pollution. 

“Do you remember when we first met?” he asked quietly into the night. 

“Of course, Ani,” Padmé replied, frowning at him.

Anakin shook his head. “Not here. The first time.” 

Obi-wan brought a hand up to his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t remember the beginning well,” he murmured. Padmé covered his hand with her own where it rested on his knee. They all remembered the end of that life, no matter how much they didn’t want to. 

“I thought you were an angel, Padmé.”

“That’s right... In the junk shop,” she recalled fondly. “You told me you wanted to be— no you told me you _were_ a pilot.” 

“You were only a child then,” Obi-wan noted, sounding thoughtful, and perhaps a bit doubtful at whatever piloting skills Anakin may or may not have had at the time.

“Yeah,” Anakin laughed. “And I had never flown a spaceship in my life.” His partners grinned along with him at the memory. Anakin had always been eager to impress, especially in that life. 

“Yes, well, you caught on quickly,” Obi-wan assured him. “It wasn’t long before you could out-pilot me with ease.”

“I wonder if I could fly a plane,” Anakin thought aloud. “Do you think it’s similar to— to the space ships from back then?”

“I have no idea.” Obi-wan shook his head, a hint of amusement showing on his face. 

They fell back into silence for a long while, staring up at the night sky, before Padmé spoke up again. “We’ve come a long way since then, haven’t we?”

Obi-wan squeezed her hand. “We have. I like who we’ve become.”

“Me too,” Anakin agreed.


End file.
